Automatic weft-replenishing loom.



E. s. STIMPSON. AUTOMATIC WEPT REPLENISHING LOOM.

APPLIOATIOH FILED NOV. 12, 1907.

Patented July 19, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

A I/IIII/I/l/IA E. s. STIMPSON. 7 AUTOMATIC WBFT REPLENISHING LOOM.

AIPLIOA'IIION FILED NOV. 12, 1907.

,5 0, Patented July 19,1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

FIGA.

E. S. STIMPSON. AUTOMATIC WEPT REPLENISHING LOOM.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 12, 1901.

19 64 5800 Patented July 19, 1910.

v 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Witnesses;

TE 1 STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD S. STIMPSON, OF I IOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO DRAIPERCOM- PANY, OF PORTLAND, MAINE, AND HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, ACORPORATION or MAINE.

AUTOMATIC wnrr-nnrnnivismne Loom.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 19, 1910.

Application filed November 12', 1907. Serial No. 401,831.

To all whom it may concern:

tain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Weft-Replenishing Looms,of which the following is a specification.

In the now well-known Northrop or Draper loom, the principles of whichare described in United States Letters Patent No. 529,940, datedNovember 27, 1894, wherein weft-replenishment is effected by ejectingthe spent weft-carrier (bobbin, copspindle, or the like) from theworking shuttle and transferring a fresh weft-carrier from a magazine orhopper into the working shuttle, it is highly important that the shuttleshould be properly positioned with respect to the magazine containingthe spare weft-carriers when the weft-replenish ing action takes place.In order to secure this proper relative position between shuttle andmagazine the looms in commercial practice have been provided with twoexpedients. In case the shuttle is too near the middle of the loom whenthe weft-replenishing mechanism is called into action, the transferringoperation is prevented by means of a shuttle feeler whlch, coming incontact with the misplaced shuttle, renders the transferring mechanisminactive, as set forth in United States Patent No. 529,943, November 27,1894. On the other hand, should the shuttle be too far out from themiddle of the loom, the transferring mechanism acts and reliance is hadupon the construction of curately placed in the shuttle in order thatthe jaws may securely grasp and hold an inserted weft-carrier. As shownin- Patent No. 538,507, just mentioned, the shuttle is provided with aninclined bridge in the vicinity of the weft-carrier-holding jaws whichengages the butt end of a fresh weft-carrier while being transferred andthereby directs the weft-carrier to the holding jaws in case the shuttleoccupies a position. too far from the middle ofthe loom. While thisprovision of an inclined directing bridge has been employed in the verylarge number of Northrop or Draper looms which have been put intocommercial use, its action has not been wholly satisfactory. As will beevident from an inspection of the drawings of the aforesaid Patent No.538,507, a relative longitudinal movement between the misplaced shuttleand the incoming weft-carrier takes place while the spent weft-carrieris being ejected under the impact of the incomin weft-carrier. At thesame. time, the incoming weft-carrier is being ressed down by thetransferrer, whose frictional contact with the weft-carrier tends tointerfere with any longitudinal movement of the weft-carrier. It alsomay happen during the transferring action that the projectlng ribs ofthe incoming and spent weft-carriersmay interlock and hence interferewith the relative'longitudinal movement between the incomingweft-carrier and the misplaced shuttle. The result is that weft-carriersare sometimes broken, and occasionally the inserted weft-carrier isinefficiently grasped by the shuttle jaws so that a portion of theweft-carrier may be outside of the boundaries of the shuttle withresulting damage ishin mechanism is brought into action and in a Vanceof any contact between the incomm and outgoing weft-carriers and beforet e incoming weft-carrier comes into contactwith the shuttle jaws, orany partof the shuttle. The shuttle feeler is retained so that thetransferring mechanism is rendered inactive in case the shuttle is toonear the middle of the loom when the wft-. replenishing mechanism iscalled into action; while, on the other hand, should the shuttle be toofar out at the critical moment, the tion to the transferring mechanismis nownew shuttle placer moves the shuttle longiso well knownas torequire no detailed illustudinally and inwardly into just the rightposition relatively to the magazme to receive the incoming weft-carrier.

One embodiment of the present lmprovements is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which-' Figure 1, is a vertical sectionthrough the lay, transferring mechanism and a portlon of the magazine ofthe modern form of the Northrop or Draper loom showing the presentimprovements and illustrating the transferrer in the act of inserting afresh weftcarrier, the period illustrated belng just in advance of theincoming weft-carrier contacting with the spent weft-carrier. F1g. 2, isa similar section on a larger scale of a portion of the mechanism shownin Fig. 1,

showing the transferrer in its most depressed position and illustratingthe fresh weft-carrier in position within the shuttle. Flg. 3, is asimilar section illustrating the shuttle placer in the same position asin Fig. 1 but on a larger scale, this figure slmply illustrating therelation between the shuttle placer and the shuttle. Fig. 4, 1s a longi-'tudinal section through the shuttle and the neighboring portion of theweft--replenishing mechanism, illustrating the shuttle 1n a misplacedposition too far from the middle of the loom. Fig. 5, is a sect1ons1m1lar to Fig. 4, illustrating the parts just after the shuttle placerhas acted and, hence, by comparison with Fig. 4, indicating the effectof the shuttle placer in moving the misplaced shuttle toward the middleof the loom.

. Fig. 6, isa plan view of the end of the shuttle which is equipped withthe weftcarrier jaws. Fig. 7 IS a longitudinal vertical section of thesame end of the shuttle. Fig. 8, is a perspective view of the shuttleabutment against which the shuttle placer acts.

The drawings show, with suflicient fullness to enable the presentimprovements to be understood, certain of the ordinary parts of thewell-known Draper loom in one of the present commercial forms.

A, is the lay; B, is the shuttle with its resilient weft-carrier holdingjaws a, a, C, is the spare weft-carrier magazine; D, is a portion of thefixed stand or framework on which the magazine is mounted; E, E, areweft-carriers, each with projecting annular ribs 6, b, at its butt end;F, is the swinging transferrer; G, is the transferrer dog which, whenthe weft-replenishing mechanism is called into action, is moved up intoposition to be struck by the hunter 0, on the lay; and H, is the shuttlefeeler which prevents action of the transferrer in case the shuttle ismisplaced and is too near the middle of the 529,943, above mentioned, oras shown in more recent United States Letters Patent, as, for example,in Patent No. 664,790, dated December 25, 1900. All of these parts actand cooperate in the same way as customary in the Draper loom. The addedparts illustrated in the present drawings relate to the devices -formoving the shuttle longitudinally into correct position relatively tothe magazine in case the shuttle is too far out (that is, away from themiddle of the loom) at the moment when a transfer of weft-carriers is totake place. The principal illust-rated factors in placing the shuttle incorrect position are a shuttle placer I, on the magazine stand, and anabutment J, carried by the shuttle. The abutment J, within the shuttlehas a vertical face d, extending the entire width of the shuttlechamber. (Jonveniently, as shown, the abutment is part of a piece ofsheet metal pressed into suitable shape for secure attachment to theshuttle body, no part of the same extending beyond the outer boundariesof the shuttle. Beneath the abutment proper there is a horizontalledgee, and a vertical wall f, which are located between the shuttle jaws a.The wall f, is close to the butt'end of the weft-carrier E, held by thejaws. This wall is distant from the abutment face to the extent of theledge 6, thus affording a space between the abutment face and the buttend of the bobbin for the action of the shuttle placer I.

The shuttle placer I, is best shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. It is pivotallyconnected at g, to the fixed stand D, of the spare weftcarrier magazineC, and is spring-restored to and maintained in a normal horizontalposition, as, shown in Fig. 4, by a spring 71.. When thus occupying itsnormal horizontal position theshuttle placer is directly beneath (butout of contact with) the butt of the weft-carrier in the magazine whichis next to be transferred to the working shuttle, and is also directlybeneath the driving end of the transferrer F. The shuttle placer is alsolocated directly over the shuttle box at the transferring end of the laywhen the lay is at and near front center, as shown in Figs. l, 2 and 3.Also, as shown in these figures, the portion of the shuttle placer whichenters the shuttle chamber is sufliciently narrow as compared with thewidth of the shuttle chamber and the length of the abutment J, to allowfor the traverse of the lay during the transferring operation. When atransfer is to take place, the transferrer F, descends coming intocontact with the butt end of the spare weft-carrier beneath it andforcing the same downwardly Fig. 4 to the vertical-position shown inFig; 5.

Should, the shuttle be then occupying a position too far out as comparedwith the middle of the loom and the position of the magazine, theshuttle placer will come in contact with the abutment J and therebyforce the shuttle longitudinally and inwardly and into correct positionto receive the incoming weft-carrier. A comparison between Figs. 4 and5, will indicate approximately the maximum distance that the shuttle canbe moved by the shuttle placer, which is sufficient to provide for allcontingencies whichmay arise in practice with respect to the outwarddisplacement of the shuttle. As shown in Fig. 5, the shuttle is movedinwardly (relatively to the magazine and the middle of the loom) so asto bring its inner end close to the plane of the shuttle feeler I.Shouldthe shuttle not be far enough out relatively to the magazine andthe middle of the loom at the time a transfer is called, the shuttlefeeler will encounter the shuttle and render the transferrer inactive inthe heretofore usual way. The shuttle feeler can be so located and thethrow of the shuttle placer can be so regulated as to provide for allcontingencies which may arise in practice. The slight play indicated inFig. 5 not compensated for by the shuttle feeler and the shuttle placeris sufficiently taken care of by the grooves in the shuttle jaws and theshape of the projecting ribs 5, on the weft-carriers. Even this slightplay indicated need not exist, since the throw of the shuttle placer mayreadily be made suflicient to bring the ribs of the incoming bobbindirectly in line with the grooves of the shuttle jaws. As shown in Fig.5, the' shuttle placer performs its office of moving the shuttleinwardly and longitudinally to the right place before the incomingshuttle in its descent touches the spent weft-carrier or comes intocontact with the shuttle jaws. Conse uently during the ejection of thespent we t-carrier by the incoming weft-earner and during the passage ofthe ribs of the incoming weftcarrier into place between the shuttlejaws,there is no relative longitudinal movement between the incoming andoutgoing weft-v carriers and hence no liability of breakage nor ofimproper grasp of the inserted weftcarrier by the shuttle jaws. When thefresh weft-carrier reaches its position between the shuttle jaws, it iswholly free from the shuttle placer, which thereupon is restored to itsnormal horizontal position before the transferrer C, rises, as shown inFig. 2. An

important characteristic of this shuttle placer isthat it acts only whenatransfer is to be made and hence is subject to minimum wear onl I 1 Thepresent invention is not limited to the detailed mechanism illustratedand specifically' described, it being obvious that other specificdevices may embody the principle of the invention.

I claim:

1. An automatic weft replenishing loom having,'in combination, amagazine for spare weft-carriers a shuttle with weft-carrier jaws and anabutment; a transferrer to transfer a weft-carrier from the magazine tothe shuttle and eject the spent weft-carrier; mechanism to prevent theaction of the transferrer in case the shuttle is misplaced inwardlyrelatively to the magazine when a change of weft-carriers is called; anda spring-restored shuttle-placer moved by the fresh weft-carrier whenacted upon by the transferrer, said shuttle-placer encountering saidshuttle-abutment and moving the shuttle inwardly when the shuttle is toofar out relatively to the incoming weft-carrier.

2. An automatic weft replenishing loom having, in combination, amagazine for spare weft-carriers; a shuttle with weft-carrierv jaws andan abutment; a transferrer to transfer a weft-carrier from the magazineto the shuttle and eject the spent weft-carrier; mechanism to preventthe action of the transferrer in case the shuttle is misplaced inwardlyrelatively'to the magazine when a change of weft-carriers is called; anda shuttle-placer moved by thefresh weft-carrier when. acted upon by thetransferrer, said shuttle-placer encountering said shuttleabutment andmoving the shuttle inwardly when the shuttle is too far out relativelyto the incoming weft-carrier.

3. An automatic weft replenishing loom having, in combination, amagazine for spare weft-carriers; a shuttle -with weft-carrier jaws andan abutment; a transferrer to transfer a weft-carrier from the magazineto the shuttle and eject the spent weft-carrier;

and a shuttle-placer moved by the fresh weft-carrierwhen acted upon bythe transferrer, said shuttle-placer encountering said shuttle-abutmentand moving the shuttle inwardly when the shuttle is too far outrelatively to the incoming'weft-carrier.

4. An automatic weft replenishing loom having, in combination,a'magazine for spare weft-carriers; a shuttle; a transferrer to transfera weft-carrier from the magazine to the shuttle; and a shuttle-placermoved by the fresh weft-carrier when acted upon by the transferrer, saidshuttle-placer encountering said shuttle and moving it inwardly when toofar out relatively to the incoming weft-carrier. j

I 5. An automatic weft replenishing loom having, in combination,amagazine for spare weft-carriers; a shuttle; a transferrer to transfera weft-carrier from the magazme to the shuttle; mechanism to prevent theaction of the transferrer in case the shuttle is misplaced inwardlyrelatively to the ma azine when a change of weft-carriers is calle and ashuttle-placer acted upon through the transferrer, said shuttle-placeracting to move the shuttle inwardly when the shuttle is too far outrelatively to the incoming weftcarrier.

'6. An automatic Weft replenishing loom having,- in combination, amagazine for spare weft-carriers; a shuttle; a transferrer to. Itransfer a weft-carrier from'the magazine to the shuttle; and ashuttle-placer above the lay and acted uponthrough the'transferrer toposition the shuttle relatively to the incoming weft-carrier.

7. An automatic weft replenishing loom having in combination, a magazinefor spare weft-carriers; a shuttle; a transferrer to transfer a.weft-carrier from the magazine to downward movement of said deviceautomatically into engagement with the shuttle when the weft in theshuttle is to. be replenished.

9. A loom having, in combination, mechanism to replenish automaticallythe working shuttle with weft, a shuttle placer located above theshuttle path and downwardly movable to engage and' move the shuttleinward to thereby insure proper positioning of the shuttle at the timeof weft replenishment, and means to effectdownward movement of saidshuttle placer automatically into engagementwith the shuttle when theweft in the shuttle is to be replenished.

10. A loom having, in combination, mechanism to replenish automaticallythe working shuttle with weft, a shuttle placer located above theshuttle path and downwardly movable to engage and move the shuttleinward to thereby insure proper positioning of the shuttle at the timeof weft replenishment, and means to effect downward movementof saidshuttle placer automatically into engagement with the shuttle when theweft in the shuttle is to be replenished, said action being in advanceof any contact between the incoming weft carrier and the shuttle. v

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the witnesses.

EDWVARD S. STIMPSON. Vvitnesses GEORGE OTIS DRAPER, ERNEST W. Woon.

presence of two subscribing

